


A Weekend Adventure With Baby Steven

by blinkinglion



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: Baby Steven Universe, Babysitting, Fluff, Garnet is a great mom, Minor Violence, Steven doesn't get hurt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-18
Updated: 2018-09-30
Packaged: 2019-06-29 09:22:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 8
Words: 18,520
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15726543
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/blinkinglion/pseuds/blinkinglion
Summary: When Greg goes out of town, the gems are left to watch a ten-month old Steven. That is, until a mission goes terribly wrong. Now Garnet's alone, trying to take care of Steven by herself for the weekend- Garnet has faced many foes, but the responsibility of watching such a fragile creature on her own is definitely the most terrifying thing she's faced so far.





	1. Chapter 1

Garnet had many talents.

She could take down corrupted gems with just a few well-placed hits, was strong enough to lift hundreds of pounds with ease, was faster than any olympic sprinter, and had a real knack for chasing away cows.

One thing she was _not_ talented at was babysitting. At least she didn’t think she was. Obviously she’d never babysat anything before Steven came along- since gems were “born” fully grown, she’d never had the opportunity. Once Steven was born, she’d helped out by watching him now and again, but no longer than a few hours, and never by herself. He was giggly and sweet, and only vomited on occasion. Not to mention he was absolutely fascinated by the shape of her hair, so she didn’t have to do much but hold still to entertain him for hours on end. And if anything went wrong, if Steven fell off the couch onto the floor and became inconsolable, if he started to cough and cry, Pearl was there in an instant. She instantly knew what would be the best remedy for whatever ailment Steven had. She had read every baby book on the market from front to back, and then had done it again. Garnet truly suspected she knew more about raising a child than some human parents. Of course Garnet had read -rather, skimmed- her fair share of baby books, but the truth was she just didn’t trust herself to be around Steven without help. If Pearl couldn’t help Steven, Greg was just down the street. Even Amethyst was helpful on occasion, cheering up Steven whenever he became sullen or fussy, like if the gems had to leave him at home to go on a mission. 

Now it was just the gems and Steven for the entire weekend. Greg wasn’t going to be around- he was going out of town to meet with a potential client. He had explained to the gems that for the largest summer event in Beach City, Mayor Dewey had hired a circus to set up on the boardwalk. Mayor Dewey had hired Greg to wash the Circus trucks and cages at the car wash, and Greg had been called to go out to Empire City to finalize the deal. He had burst through the doors of the house, out of breath from excitement- and the fact that he’d sprinted from town to the beach with the news. “This could be huge!” He exclaimed, scooping up a squealing Steven from the couch. “D’you know how much money they offered me, lil’ buddy?” He nuzzled Steven affectionately, then grinned up at the gems. “I’ll have to leave for the weekend. You guys can watch him by yourselves, right? I won’t really be able to take care of him while i’m running around the city.”

Pearl, Amethyst, and Garnet were of course, enthusiastic. They’d have to leave him alone for a bit every once and a while for missions, but it wouldn’t be for long.

On the day Greg drove to the city, he came by to say goodbye to Steven before he left. Amethyst, who was holding him at the time, gingerly handed him over. “Don’t move him around too much dude. He just ate, and I can’t promise he won’t spew chunks all over you.” Greg winced and nodded.

“Noted. D’you guys have everything you need?” Greg tickled Steven’s stomach and kissed his forehead, smiling as the baby boy cooed, and went to hand him back to the Gems.“Diapers, his food-”

“First-aid kits, toys, his blankie, Mc Bear bear, his pacifier, and a cellphone to contact you if anything happens.” Pearl finished, leaning forward to take Steven. “Honestly Greg, you don’t have to worry about him at all. Me and Garnet will take care of Steven.” She glowered at Amethyst. “And we’ll make sure nobody… _irresponsible_ is left alone with him.” 

Amethyst nodded. “Agreed. Pearl, since nobody irresponsible is supposed to be holding Steven, you should give him to me." 

“Wh- Amethyst!”

While the two of them bickered, Garnet spoke with Greg. “If you do land this contract, how much money will you be getting?”

“About five thousand dollars.” He sighed. “Being honest with you Garnet, we could really use it. It’s not easy feeding a baby, keeping the lights on at the Carwash, and the house all at the same time. Not to mention,” He glanced over at his van. “Gas is pretty expensive as well.”

“You’d better get going then.” Garnet tilted her head up and adjusted her visor. “If you don’t leave now, there’s a chance you might be late.”

“From anyone else that might seem like speculation, but i’m pretty sure you know exactly what you’re talking about.”

“I do. Get going.” 

And so after a loving goodbye to Steven, Greg was off. The gems waved goodbye, went back into the house, set down Steven in his crib, and discussed their upcoming mission.

“We’re dealing with a corrupted Quartz,” Pearl mussed. “We’ve got to be careful. They tend to be brutish- their strength might end up overpowering us if we’re not cautious.”

Amethyst shrugged. “Maybe it’d end up overpowering you Pearl, but I happen to be a much better fighter. And Garnet’s a _fusion_. We can handle a rogue gem.”

“First of all Amethyst, you aren’t anywhere near being on par with my sword fighting skills, as has been demonstrated countless times in our battles.” Pearl scoffed. “Second of all, it’s not like Garnet’s untouchable just because she’s a fusion.” Pearl turned to her. “You’re stronger than the rest of us, but I’d like to be cautious regardless. If something happened to us, who would take care of Steven?”

At the sound of his name, Steven babbled excitedly and crawled towards the front of his crib. “Pel!” He gripped the bars, and shook them, obviously feeling neglected. Pearl walked over and lifted him up, letting him rest on her hip. Steven expressed his appreciation with a gurgle. 

Garnet was silent for a moment. “You’re right. But we can’t let this gem go unchecked. If we do, it could start rampaging on a nearby village.” She crouched down in front of Steven, who immediately grabbed at her visor to try and play with it. Though he struggled to take it with one hand, since he was simultaneously trying to fit his entire left fist into his mouth. “Steven’s a Crystal Gem too. He’ll understand if we have to leave for a bit to save innocent humans.” 

Amethyst raised an eyebrow. “I really don’t think he knows what innocent means yet. Or human for that matter. I mean, he can’t even say Pearl’s name correctly.” She crouched down next to Garnet. “We gotta go save some people, Steve-o. They’re super totally innocent, so we can’t let them get trampled.” Steven’s response was to kick Amethyst in the eye, and giggle as he reached out and patted her head in a wordless apology. “Yeah, I think that’s about as far as we’re gonna get with him.”

Pearl looked annoyed, but didn’t raise any objections. “Fine. But we’ve got to be careful.” She cuddled Steven close to her chest, squeezing her eyes shut for a moment. “He’s depending on us to come back to him.” 

With that settled, Amethyst gave Steven a bath, Pearl gave him his lunch, and Garnet put him down for a nap. Steven pressed both hands against her face, and stuck his tongue out. Garnet felt her face splitting into a smile, a smile that was reserved for Steven alone. “Here, little one.” She picked up his stuffed bear, feeling an overwhelming sense of love and he squealed and clutched it to his chest. She leaned down and kissed him on the head. “We’ll come back. Be brave for us, okay Steven?” Steven looked completely oblivious to anything Garnet had just said, opting to stick his hands up in the air and grin in response. “We’ll see you soon.” She murmured. Then she turned and went to join the other crystal gems on the warp pad.

The mission started out fine. 

Amethyst and Pearl fought like cats and dogs, which Garnet tuned out as they walked. They had no difficulty locating the corrupted gem, prowling around in a dark, cold, cave. For a second, it seemed like they’d be home within the hour.

Then Amethyst got poofed.  

Neither Pearl or Garnet saw it happen- the corrupted gem was charging at them full force, and Amethyst was behind it. She wasn’t able to see the tail coming towards her in the darkness, wasn’t able to block the spiked tail from hitting her. They both heard the thud as she was thrown backwards into the wall behind them, the short, strangled cry, and they both heard the _poof_ as she disappeared. Pearl and Garnet shouted in horror, racing forward.

“ _Amethyst!_ ” 

Garnet had seen a future like this before they’d left, but it seemed so unlikely that she hadn’t explored further. She didn’t know what was going to happen now- the futures branching out from this reality were unknown to her, and she didn’t have time to see what stream of fate they should try to take. It meant that there was a possibility where they couldn’t return back to their boy, and she didn’t know how to avoid it. Garnet steeled herself and sprinted forward, tucking herself into a roll between the monster’s legs, scooping up Amethyst’s gem in one move. “Pearl! Get to the warp pad!”

Pearl shouted something in response, but Garnet couldn’t hear it. The monster’s body was blocking Pearl out of Garnet’s line of sight, so she didn’t see the blow that poofed her. She heard Pearl shriek, and saw the glint of her gem as it landed on the ground. The corrupted gem lifted its paw up, poised to bring it down and shatter Pearl’s gem. 

A horrible feeling washed over Garnet, and she staggered backwards. _I should’ve let her get Amethyst’s gem. I’m the strongest. I could’ve… She’s going to be shattered, but I didn’t look, I didn’t-_ She slammed her hands against the ground, and stood up. _She’s going to be shattered if I don’t move._  

Garnet bellowed and charged forward, diving on top of Pearl’s gem and lifting her gauntlets in an X to block the blow. It drove her body into the ground, but she withstood it, gritting her teeth. She twisted herself around and sprung back onto her feet, snatching up Pearl’s gem and backing away. She could feel herself panicking, her form becoming less and less stable as fear and guilt pulled Ruby and Sapphire’s minds out of sync. Gasping, she jerked back, dodged another blow from the corrupted gem, and booked it towards the warp pad.

She thought briefly of the small village of humans nearby, but not for long. If she was shattered, Steven would have lost all of the guidance he needed as a gem. She couldn’t protect him from the dangers of homeworld. He wouldn’t even be able to protect himself.

She might be a defender of the earth, but she would never do that to her boy.

So with the corrupted gem right on her heels, she dove onto the warp pad and warped home.

She collapsed the second she landed, falling heavily onto her stomach. She groaned, and stared down through her cracked visor at the gems she held in her shaking hands.

Pearl and Amethyst’s gems weren’t cracked. They were completely whole. She sighed with relief, her shoulders relaxing as she felt the pent up tension leave them.

She stood up and set the gems on the coffee table in front of the couch, triple-checking there was no way for them to fall off, and made her way to Steven’s crib. He had just started to wake with all of the noise she had made, and giggled as soon as he saw her. “Garneh!” He exclaimed, making grabby hands at her. She smiled wearily at him, and lifted him out of his crib.

“I told you I’d come back to you, didn’t I?” She murmured, holding him tightly as she sat down. Tears started to leak out of her eyes from under her visor as she started to shake. She could see so many futures now where she hadn’t returned back to him, where he had cried for days and been so confused, where he thought he’d done something wrong, where he was so _scared_ an-

“Garneh?”

She tilted her head down to see Steven’s hand pressing against her cheek, a confused and concerned look on his face. Steven didn’t know many other words, but she could tell what he was asking. _Why are you crying?_

“It’s nothing for you to worry about, my boy.” She whispered, pressed her forehead to his. “I’m not going to let anything hurt you.” She sniffed and looked over to where Amethyst and Pearl were. “I’ll take care of you while they’re gone. Just a weekend with you and me.”

  
Steven cooed in response, and pressed his head against her chin.

 


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Garnet becomes unfused, and Ruby and Sapphire struggle to take care of an inconsolable baby Steven, while dealing with their own issues at the same time.

Hours after she’d returned home and gotten Steven to bed, the phone call to Greg explaining what had happened to the other two Crystal Gem members on the mission went about how Garnet expected.

“ _What?”_ Greg had exclaimed. “They poofed? Both of them?”

“Yes. That’s what I just explained to you.”

“I- I know, I just… Jeez. You’re watching Steven by yourself? Is he okay? Are _you_ okay? Should I come back?” 

“I’m.. Fine. Steven is fine. There’s no need to jeopardize your business deal for this.” She did her best to sound reassuring. “We’ll be fine for a few days, Greg. I’m more than capable of watching Steven on my own.”

“Well.. Alright. If you think you can handle it.” Greg didn’t sound completely convinced. “Just call me if anything happens, okay?”

“I will. Goodnight, Greg.”

Garnet ended the call, and doubled over. She had lied. Garnet was absolutely not okay. Ruby and Sapphire were almost completely out of sync, the two of them arguing, their minds almost at war with each other. At this rate, Garnet was on track to becoming unstable and unsustainable.

She wrapped her arms around her stomach and started muttering to what appeared to be herself, her hands clenched into fists and digging into her sides.

“We can’t do this! We’re going to damage him, he’s too little- we can’t-”

“We can! We’ve never hurt him before, we’ll be fine, we’ll-”

“We haven’t done this by ourselves before! We had help! Nobody else is here, what if we-”

“We’re the leader of the Crystal Gems! We don’t need help from _anybody-_ ”

“ _We need help this time, Sapphire!”_

_“Greg must finish his deal! We can handle this, Ruby!”_

Garnet shouted the last sentences, her entire form shaking uncontrollably as she tried to hold herself together. But the commotion had woken Steven, who, displeased at having been rudely awoken, started to bawl. The was the last straw.

Garnet groaned and fell to her knees onto the floor. She convulsed violently, before disappearing in a flash of light. Two small figures fell backwards out of said light, landing with thuds on opposite sides of where Garnet had been seconds earlier. One was Sapphire, her head bowed and arms crossed, surrounded by a circle of ice- the only indication of her frustration and anger.

The other was Ruby, who’s indications of frustration consisted of the steam billowing from the top of her head, and the smoldering wood under her feet, as well as a furious snarl on her face.

“Look what you _did_ , Sapphire!” Ruby shouted over the wails, pointing at Steven with one hand while covering her ear with the other. “You made him _cry_!”

“This is my fault?” Sapphire responded, her voice icy. She wasn’t yelling, but it wasn’t hard to hear her, even over Steven’s screaming. “I’m not the one who wants to _abandon_ Steven, but somehow this is my-”

“I never said I wanted to abandon Steven! Don’t put words in my mouth-”

“I can’t believe you, we work so hard to keep him safe and you jus-”

“You never listen to me, you always-”

Back and forth they spat at each other, right up until Steven let out an ungodly shriek. The baby was thrashing around on the couch he’d been sleeping on, kicking his legs out and flailing his arms. He had snot and tears running down his cheeks, and his entire face was turning a shade of red. Ruby and Sapphire jumped like they’d just been shocked. “Oh, Steven.” Sapphire murmured and approached him, going to pick him up. 

To her and Ruby’s shock, Steven kicked and flailed, continuing to scream and sob. He slapped Sapphire’s arms away, pummeling her chest with tiny, uncoordinated fists. “Garneh! _Garneh!”_ He wailed. Sapphire tried again to pick him up, but after a very well placed kick to the nose, she set him back down. 

“What’s wrong with him?” Ruby asked, looking absolutely mortified. “He’s never acted like this before, I don’t..” Her eyes grew wide and she stepped backwards. “We hurt him, didn’t we? Sapphire I told you, I-I-I told you this would happen, it’s our fault and now he-”

Sapphire shook her head. “We didn’t hurt him, Ruby. He has no idea who we are.”

“What?”

Sapphire stood up, stepping away from the screeching baby. “He wants Garnet. He doesn’t know who we are. This is his first time meeting us.” She looked back over at Steven, who had yet to take a breath. “He doesn’t know where she went.”

Ruby crossed her arms, frowning. “Garnet isn’t here right now. And I bet you he wouldn’t be crying if he had Greg, but no- you never let me make the decisions, it’s always just _you-”_

_“_ Because I have future vision Ruby! I know what’s best,” Sapphire snapped back. “And you don’t seem to understand that I know what’s best for us, what’s best for you- _”_

“You don’t always know, Sapphire!” Ruby bellowed, stomping her foot against the floor. “I am half of Garnet, just as much as you are! I’m not a child for you to take care of, I am your _partner_!”

“I _know_ that Ruby! I never insinuated otherwise, I-”

_THUD._

Ruby and Sapphire froze. They both turned around slowly, looking towards the spot on the couch where Steven had just been laying. He was no longer there. Instead, he was laying on his back on the wooden floor, a goose egg already forming on the side of his head. He looked dazed, his arms stuck out in front of him like he was waiting to be picked up.

Ruby and Sapphire both felt a tsunami of dread wash over them. “H-he must’ve fallen off the couch-” Ruby whispered, backing away. “We weren’t watching him, we were too busy fighting-”

She was cut off by the loudest screams either of the gems had ever heard from their time on earth.

If the two gems thought that Steven’s wailing beforehand had been bad, this blew it out of the water. The two would later swear that they thought Amethyst and Pearl’s gems would crack from how high the pitch was.

It was a pained scream, and the most horrid noise Ruby and Sapphire had ever heard. “Steven!” Sapphire cried, rushing forward to pick up the boy. Ruby backpedaled, looking completely distraught. Steven, with no surprise, was inconsolable. He kept beating on Sapphire’s arms and hands, writhing like a snake.

“ _GARNEH! GARNEH, PEL, AME,-”_ He sobbed, thrashing wildly.

“Ruby, please,” Sapphire said, struggling to maintain her grip on the boy. “He wants _both_ of us, just hold him-” 

“No! I’m not going to risk hurting him again!” Ruby protested. “He’ll stop crying eventually, I just.. I don’t want to hurt him. I’m a soldier, Sapphire! I’m not meant to hold babies!”

Sapphire let out an audible groan of frustration. “We held him everyday as Garnet! You _loved_ holding him!”

“But you were there! I couldn’t hurt him if you were with me!”

“And I’m with you right now, Ruby!”

Steven didn’t stop crying while they argued. He did cry so hard that he ended up vomiting all over his pajamas, and refused to hold still long enough to get out of the soiled clothes and into new ones. They couldn’t change his diaper either, since he wouldn’t hold still for that. He just kept screaming until he made himself sick- and after he was done throwing up, he continued howling.

Sapphire eventually put him into his crib, which he seemed to hate even more than being held captive in Sapphire’s arms. He started beating against the bars of his crib, using M.C Bear Bear as a weapon. “GARNEH!” _Whump_ “PEL!” _Whump_ “AME!” _Whump._

Sapphire stepped back, rubbing her hands over her face. “I don’t know how to make him stop,” She whispered. “His head hurts, his clothes are soiled, he’s exhausted, I just..” She sank to the floor, her entire body sagging.

Ruby had been hovering nearby throughout the entire ordeal, but now crouched besides Sapphire. She looked like she wanted to say something, but didn’t know what to do to help. After a moment of silence, she murmured. “We could try singing to him.”

Sapphire lifted her hair out of her face, and fixated her eye onto Ruby. “You.. Think that might help?” She asked. Ruby could hear the weariness in her voice and looked away, guilt deepening the red on her face.

“Maybe. Steven likes it when Greg sings to him, it puts him to sleep.”

Sapphire ducked her head for a moment, and went back over to the crib. “Steven,” She murmured. Steven punched at her and let out another choked-up scream. She lifted him up and tried to hum a tune, but it was impossible to hear over Steven’s shrieking.

Sapphire stopped. She started shaking, ice forming around the hem of her dress and spreading, her arms barely holding Steven to her chest. “I can’t do it,” She whispered, her head bowed. “I-I can’t, I can’t take care of him. I’m failing, I failed him, he’s so _upset,_ and it’s my fault and I-”

Within a second, Ruby had gone to Sapphire’s side. “No no no! It’s not your fault, It’s mine, I’m so sorry- I was afraid, and I made you feel like i-it was all just your fault, and I’m so sorry, I’m just-” She stopped and sniffled, wiping a tear from her eye. “So _scared_. He’s so little and I just… He already hit his head, and I’m just so clumsy and- I just.. I don’t want him to get hurt because of me.”

Sapphire sighed, looking up Ruby. “I’m scared too,” She murmured. “I’m terrified of looking into the future- I don’t want to see how many possibilities there are of him getting hurt. But I’m so afraid that it’ll happen anyways.” Ruby clasped one of her hands in her own, leaning forward to press her forehead against Sapphire’s.

“You’re not alone. I’m here with you, okay? I always am.”

After a moment, Sapphire whispered. “You should introduce yourself to him.”

Ruby jerked away. “What?”

“He might like to meet you. Maybe that’d make him feel better.”

Ruby looked down at Steven. He had screamed himself out, but was still sniffling and whimpering, obviously distressed. Ruby looked up at Sapphire. “What do I even say?” She mumbled, wringing her hands. “How do you introduce yourself to a baby?”

“Just.. hold him.” Sapphire, with some difficulty, held Steven out to her. “Take him. If he keeps squirming like this, i'm going to lose my grip.”

Ruby reached forward and as gently as she could, took Steven from Sapphire’s arms. She felt almost paralyzed as she sat on the couch, clutching the boy against her chest, not daring to move.

Steven wasn’t happy with this new arrangement, and started to wail again- but only for a moment. It made him sick almost instantly, and he vomited bile all over Ruby. She felt like she actually _was_ paralyzed for a moment, her entire body freezing up.

Then Sapphire’s laughter melted her.

Sapphire had a faint smile on her face as she looked at the two of them. “I think he likes you.”

Ruby smiled back at her, unconsciously starting to bounce Steven on her lap- something they always did as Garnet. “What gave it away? The screaming or the vomit?”

“Both, I think.”

They both chuckled at that. Sapphire made her way to Ruby’s left side, leaning on her shoulder. She rested her hand over where Steven had hit his head, using the natural cold from her gem as a makeshift ice pack. Ruby started making funny faces and noises to entertain him.

Steven was still snuffling, but he’d stopped wailing. He climbed up a bit closer to Ruby’s shoulders, pressing his hands against her head. He squinted for a moment, before asking “Garneh?”

Ruby smiled down at Steven, pulling him away a bit. “Not Garnet,” she murmured. “Ruby.”

Steven blinked up at her and didn’t say anything. But he did turn and look at Sapphire, sticking his arms out. “Garneh?”

Ruby giggled, and Sapphire looked surprised. “Oh, Steven.” She ran a hand over his head. “Garnet isn’t here right now, little one.”

Steven, again, didn’t comprehend this and tried to snuggle into Ruby’s arms. She scrunched her face up and tried not to show her disgust.

“Sapphie, I think he needs a bath.” She whispered. “Maybe several.”

Sapphire reached out to hold Ruby’s hand. “I think you’re right,” She murmured. “But he’s probably starving after the fit he had. And expelling every bit of food he’s eaten today out of his mouth.” She put her arms out and Ruby passed Steven over with no hesitation. (Though Steven protested with an indignant “Ah!”). “Would you make him something while I wash him?”

Ruby stood up, looking concerned. “You can wash him by yourself?”

“I should be able to, unless he develops the power to suddenly harness water.” She chuckled. “Then yes, I’d definitely need a helping hand.”

Ruby beamed, and jumped forward to peck Sapphire on the cheek. “The only thing I love more than you are your jokes,” She pressed another kiss against her jaw, and Sapphire giggled. “And the only thing I love more than _that_ is your-“ 

Sapphire ducked her head and stepped away, trying and failing to hide her smile. She covered Steven’s ears anyways. “Be appropriate Ruby,” she responded, though her cheeks had turned a light shade of red.

“Your future vision is unfair. I didn’t get to finish.”

“I don’t need to use my future vision to know what you were about to say.” Sapphire responded, and made her way to the bathroom.

Steven cooed, and started to try and eat his fist while peering over Sapphire’s shoulder to stare at Ruby. He waved sporadically with his chubby hand, and Ruby beamed at him. “Don’t give her too much trouble, okay?” Steven babbled in response.

-—————————————

Two hours later, Steven was fed, bathed, and in bed, no cries to be heard. Ruby had managed to make a pasta hybrid of sauce and butter, which Steven had practically inhaled, despite it being slightly burnt. “I guess he really did work up an appetite,” Ruby said, clearing the now empty bowl off the table. “To be fair, he nearly screamed the house down.”

“I didn’t think human infants had lungs as strong as his.. But he _is_ a half gem.” Sapphire said, cleaning up the last of the vomit from the floor. “But projectile vomiting is definitely new to me.”

Ruby shrugged. “Maybe it’s a new power.” She grinned and flopped down on the couch next to Sapphire. “Imagine that. Running into battle with no weapon, pinned down by a hundred corrupted gems and just-” She made an exaggerated motion with her hands in front of her mouth and doubled over- “Blegh! It just poofs ‘em.”

“While that would be interesting to see, I only see a few futures where that’s a possibility.” 

“Really?”  

“No,” Sapphire moved over to Ruby and rested her head on her shoulder. “Though I do see several possibilities of us going to the beach tomorrow with Steven. As Garnet.” 

Ruby smiled. “I’d really like that.” She wrapped her arms around her partner, drawing her closer into her side. “You really don’t see _any_ possibilities where vomiting is Steven’s new weapon?”

Silence, then-

 

“Mmm. Just one.”

 

“I knew it.”

  



	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Garnet takes Steven to the beach, and runs into some... Unfriendly characters.

Sapphire had been right. They did go to the beach. And they went as Garnet. 

 

They hadn’t meant to fuse- Ruby and Sapphire had been leaning against each other on the couch, the two of them basking in each other’s company. Ruby had sighed in content, turning her head to snuggle into Sapphire’s neck, and the next thing they knew they were gone- and had been replaced by a certain three-eyed fusion.

Garnet jerked like she had just been rudely awoken, then grinned. “Just like how we first fused,” she murmured to herself. “By accident.” 

Garnet stood up and went to check the time on the stove, planning out her and Steven’s day. It was 7:25 AM right now- she could make Steven some cereal and spend the whole day at the beach with him if she got him up at eight, but she was almost sure he’d be tired from his fit the night before. 

It didn’t take much work from her future vision to see that in almost every possible future, Steven’s joy to be reunited with Garnet far outweighed his exhaustion. So Garnet went about packing a baby bag- snacks, sunscreen, diapers, floaties, until Steven announced that he was awake with a soft coo.

Garnet ducked her head, smiling to herself. She crept over to Steven’s crib, making sure to stay out of his line of sight, before popping up right over him. “Hello, Steven!” 

Steven looked absolutely astonished, then squealed with unrestricted joy. He clapped his hands and squirmed around, dragging himself to a half-standing position, sagging over the rails of the crib. “Garneh! Garneh!” He stuck his arms out, and Garnet gladly scooped him up. 

She nuzzled him and he giggled, pawing at her face. He babbled something incomprehensible, poking at her cheeks. “I’m glad to see you too.” She laughed, spinning in a circle as she held him. “I’ve got a soft spot for you little one.”

Steven blew a raspberry, pressing his face into the crook of her neck. Garnet chuckled again, and set him down in his high chair. It took her only a few minutes to make Steven’ breakfast, and Steven was perfectly content entertaining himself by slamming his spoon and fork on the tray he was supposed to be eating on. 

Steven wasn’t a picky eater, so he ate the cereal without any fuss, though he did leave a mess behind. Garnet cleaned up the leftover cereal, then went ahead and helped Steven into his swim trunks.

He’d picked them out himself- his trunks were bright blue and covered with dolphins. They were his favorite piece of clothing, and for a while the Gems and Greg had trouble getting him into anything else, even if it was the dead of winter. But since it was summer, he had no problem. 

“Beeh, Garneh? Go Beeh?” Steven inquired as Garnet snapped a pair of goggles onto Steven’s forehead. Garnet nodded. 

“We’re gonna go all day. We’re going to have a lot of fun, okay?”

Steven nodded, then looked over to the coffee table where Amethyst and Pearl’s gems were laying. “Pel an’ Ame, Garneh? Go beeh too?” 

Garnet winced, and signed. She crouched down in front of Steven, removing her visor to look at him. “Steven.. Pearl and Ame aren’t here right now. They love you _so_ much, but they’re just-“ she stopped, seeing the confusion in his face. “Fighting bad monsters. That’s why… that’s why they aren’t here right now.”

Steven blinked at her, and sniffled. “No Pel and Ame?”

“No Pearl and Amethyst, little one.”

Steven looked upset for a few more seconds, before shaking his head and snuffling. He held his hand out to Garnet. “Go beeh?”

“Yes. Let’s go to the beach.”

The beach was packed with people by the time Garnet and Steven arrived. Garnet found an umbrella to give them shade, and laid out a blanket for the two of them to lay on. Personally, Garnet like the heat- but she knew that after Steven got tired, he would not enjoy it. At this point in time he was crawling along the ground, absolutely fascinated with each handful of sand he picked up.

He shimmied over to her, and held out his cupped hands, filled with sand. “Garneh.” He said, his tone incredibly serious for a ten-month-old baby. He then proceeded to dump his handful of sand into Garnet’s lap, and beamed. “Garneh ‘as beeh.” Garnet frowned and tilted her head.

“What, Steven?”

“ Garneh ‘as Beeh. Steve give.” 

She raised an eyebrow. “You.. Gave me the beach?” 

Steven nodded, looking immensely satisfied, before crawling away towards the water.

Garnet chuckled to herself, brushing the sand off of her pants. She was about to pick up and start reading the book she’d brought with her, _100 tips and tricks for your toddler,_ when a voice interrupted her.

“Excuse me, miss?”

Garnet looked up to find herself face to face with a short woman with crossed arms and a curled lip. “You’re one of the women who live in the beach house, correct?” The woman asked curtly. Her words were polite, but her tone held a clear malice, and she was glaring daggers at Garnet. The woman had limp red hair that fell around her shoulders, beady brown eyes, and was a prime example that not everyone aged beautifully. 

Garnet reached up and adjusted her visor. “Yes. I am.” 

“And that’s your son?” She glanced over at Steven.

Garnet paused before answering. A light smile ghosted across her face. “Yes, I suppose he is.”

“Well, I just had to let you know how _disgusting_ it is, what you’re doing to that boy.”

Garnet stiffened, but otherwise remained unchanged. “And what exactly am I doing to him?”

“Your lifestyle! Three.. _women_ raising a child, no father in sight. Forcing the homosexual agenda onto him, a little boy with no choice in the matter!” She scoffed. “I can’t believe people like you haven’t been rounded up and thrown and jail yet. And look at you compared to him!” She gestured at Steven wildly, who was currently rubbing his head in the sand and laughing shrilly. “You obviously didn’t give birth to him, yet here you are! Taking care of some prostitute’s child to make matters worse!” 

Garnet was a sworn protector of anything that called earth home.

 

For thousands of years, her sworn duty was to protect any and all life- especially humans.

 

In almost six thousand years, Garnet had never wanted to attack a human.

 

Until this very moment.

Garnet’s hand became unsteady as she bowed her head, hands curling into fists. Gems didn’t have blood, but Garnet could still feel rage coursing through her entire form. Her hands were shaking, but not from distress- from exertion. She was seriously restraining herself from pummeling this woman into the ground. If she didn’t do it for her and Steven, she felt the urge to do it in Rose Quartz’s name. 

But Rose wouldn’t have wanted her to do that. So Garnet settled on something else.

She stood up, towering at least three and a half feet over the woman, who was probably around five feet herself. Garnet removed her visor and scowled, narrowing all three of her eyes and watching the blood drain from the woman’s face. She stepped backwards as Garnet moved forward, the woman’s hands held out in front of her chest.

“You are speaking on things you do not understand,” Garnet snarled, backing the woman five steps with only her one. “Disrespecting things that could have you obliterated in an instant, without notice- yet have the mercy not to.” Garnet leaned down until her face was inches away from the woman’s trembling face, mouth opening and closing like a gasping fish as she stared at Garnet’s third eye.

“But if you _ever_ remark on Steven again, I will know. And I will you wipe you off the face of this planet without hesitation.” She feinted a step forward, and the woman tripped backwards over her own feet. “Now leave us be.” 

The woman couldn’t move fast enough, almost falling on her face as she scrambled to get her feet under her and race the other direction, shouting frantically at her vacationing family.

Garnet replaced her visor and turned back around. Steven had gotten his head stuck in the ground, and was currently whining in slight distress. Garnet pulled him out of the ground with ease. “Do you want to go into the water, Steven?” She asked him, moving Steven to her hip so she could point at the ocean. “Swim?”

Steven squealed in response, and Garnet looked pleased. “C’mon then.” The two of them waded into the water, though Steven was well above it resting on Garnet’s hip. She crouched down, holding Steven as she let him dip his feet in. “I wonder if you might actually have water harnessing powers,” She murmured as he slapped and kicked at the water. “That would be interesting.”

Steven was having a grand time pummeling the ocean. Whenever he started to get tired from beating at it, Garnet splashed him in the face. Steven seemed to take this as a personal offence and redoubled his efforts in trying to fight all of the water around him, shouting and getting drool all over himself. While Garnet found this incredibly captivating, she was watching the woman from before and her family. They’d been pointing and glaring at Garnet and Steven for the last few minutes, looking like they were speaking in hushed tones. The people the woman was with consisted of five or six burly looking men, a few younger boys, and quite a few stick-thin women.

This worried Garnet.

Not that she wouldn’t be able to handle a bunch of humans, but that Steven would become distraught by seeing her punch a man and send him flying sixty feet. So, she stood up out of the water, taking Steven with her. “Aw, Garneh!” He protested, tilting his head up to look at her.

“I’m sorry Steven,” She carried him over to their umbrella, setting him down on the blanket. “We’re going to have to cut this beachday a little short.” But Garnet was nothing if not prepared. Having seen glimpses of this future while she used her future vision, she had brought along backup in case Steven got upset.

Steven pouted at her, his arms crossed as he huffed in disappointment. “Beeh, Garneh!” He whined, looking pitifully at her and pointing at the sand behind her.

“I know you’re sad, Steven. That’s why I brought this.” Garnet reached into a nearby cooler that she had brought along with them on the trip. “Do you want an ice cream?” She held it out to him. She knew it was his favorite- something about the cat shape absolutely captivated the baby boy.

Steven’s eyes got huge and he snatched it out of her hands. Garnet briefly noted that he hadn’t said “Please” or “Thank you”, something that was emphasised in her book. She hadn’t gotten far enough to know what to do if a child didn’t use those mannerisms. And quite frankly, she had other things to worry about.

The woman from earlier sauntered over to Garnet and Steven’s umbrella, looking royally pissed off. Behind her were two men, who also looked absolutely peeved. “That’s the freak,” She snapped, pointing at Garnet. “The three-eyed lesbian with the ugly little boy”

Later, Garnet would think back and realize that the name “The Three-Eyed lesbian” wasn’t half bad.

At the time though, Garnet just raised an eyebrow. “I thought I specifically told you what would happen if I heard you speak about Steven.”

The woman waved her hand dismissively. “I heard. Which is why I brought company. I’m not scared of you.” Garnet rolled all three of her eyes under her visor. “Now, we want you to leave the beach. We don’t want people like you taking up space that could be used for good, god-fearing people.” 

Garnet breathed in and weighed her options. If she attacked these humans, all of the Crystal Gems would be shunned, and Steven would never live any semblance of a normal life in Beach City. Her second option was to scare them a bit.

She chose the latter.

 

In one swift movement, she flung her visor off of her eyes, and yanked the umbrella out of the sand. She took half a step back, raised her arms above her head, let out a furious, throaty yell, and hurled it as hard as she could into the ground between the women and her “bodyguards”.

Sand exploded from the ground. The humans screamed and scattered, sprinting the other direction as fast as they could, without looking behind them. Garnet wiped her hands off on her pants and exhaled, turning towards Steven.

She was, for the first time today,  genuinely worried.

What if Steven became afraid of her? What human wouldn’t? Those other ones had turned tail and fled, what if Steven wouldn’t trust her anymore?

And yet, to her immense relief, Steven saw her and giggled, holding his arms out for a hug.

Garnet lifted him up to her chest immediately, laughing. “My little Steven.”

 

Steven cooed happily in response.

  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really enjoyed writing this one! Overprotective Mom Garnet is super fun to write.


	4. Chapter 4

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Greg is going to be gone for a few more days, so Garnet and Steven decide to go grocery shopping. But there's nothing more dangerous than a curious toddler and terrible customer service.

“Two more days?”

Garnet was currently trying to keep Steven from rolling off the couch while simultaneously speaking with Greg on the phone. She was managing this with some difficulty, mostly due to the fact that Steven was continuing to crawl to another side of the couch and fling himself off, laughing the entire time- he knew Garnet wouldn’t let him fall, and the brief drop was great fun for the boy. Unfortunately, every time he plummeted headfirst towards the ground, Garnet either dove to catch him, shapeshifted her arms to a longer length, or simply let Steven use her hair as a landing pad.

“You’re going to be gone for two more days?” Garnet said again, wrapping her arm around Steven and drawing him close to her chest. She had seen this as a likely possibility, but the reasons differed from future to future. “Why?”

Greg sighed over the phone. “The guys at the Circus company want to give me an advance to polish their vehicles for their show in a few days.” He explained, sounding slightly guilty. “It’ll take me at least two days to clean them all, and that’s considering the fact that I won’t have any of my equipment with me.” He paused. “How’s Steven doing?”

Steven had squirmed a bit at first while being held, but had relaxed against Garnet’s chest, and was now clapping his hands and entertaining himself. Garnet loosened her hold and moved the phone to Steven’s face, who yanked it from her hands and gurgled cheerfully.  

“Shtu-ball!” Greg exclaimed into the phone. “Hey, little man! How’re you doing buddy?”

Steven couldn’t exactly understand what his dad was asking, but he squealed all the same. “Da!” He shook the phone and grinned. “Daaa!”

“There’s my boy. I love you so much, buddy.”

“Love Da!” Steven responded enthusiastically.

Garnet raised her eyebrows. She couldn’t see Greg’s face, but she assumed he was as surprised as she was. That was the first time Steven had said “Love”- he usually expressed his affection with kisses and hugs, not through words. Mostly because he knew around six of them.

“Listen to you kiddo! Soon you’ll be speaking in sentences.” Greg chortled. “D’you mind giving the phone back to Garnet, bud?”

Steven was trying to fit the phone in his mouth, so Garnet gently pulled it from between his jaws. “I’m here Greg,” Garnet said as she wiped the saliva off of her hand and onto one of the couch cushions.

“Good. Now I only left enough food for the weekend, so.. You’re gonna have to go grocery shopping.”

“Yes, I knew that.”

“Wh- oh. The future-vision thing told you, huh?

“Mhm."

“I figured as much. Anyways, there’s some money in the kitchen. Just go to the Quick-Mart near the boardwalk. Maybe take Steven to Funland while you’re out.”

Steven screeched at the sound of Funland’s name, clapping his hands. “Fun!” He shouted, starting to squirm again. “Wan fun!” Garnet mussed his hair and stood up, setting Steven down on the couch behind her.

“Is there anything in particular you would like me to buy, Greg?”

A pause. “Ah. Just stuff for throughout the day, meat, veggies, maybe some Cookie-cats. Stuff like that. Maybe Steven could help you! He knows what he likes.”

Steven had, on several occasions, had several near meltdowns because he couldn’t decide what color of socks he wanted to wear to the Big Donut. Garnet wasn’t exactly leaning on his judgement.

But she sighed and and shrugged. “Alright. Goodbye, Greg.” Greg said his goodbyes to Steven and hung the phone up. Garnet had, of course, timed the end of the conversation perfectly- The second she set the phone down, she crouched down and stuck her hand out to catch Steven in her hand, who cackled.

\---------------

A half hour later, Garet was carrying Steven on her back in a baby-holder, pushing a cart through the Quick-Mart. Steven was resting his chin on Garent’s shoulder, pointing at various items and making an excited noise. Garnet wasn’t exactly sure why he felt the need to exclaim every time he saw something mildly intriguing, but she found it adorable, so she smiled and kept moving.

She got the things Greg had specified- meat and vegetables, as well as several boxes of macaroni and cheese. After that, she had been stumped. There were thousands of futures depending on what she bought, none of them inherently bad or good. So she decided to take Greg’s advice.

Garnet took off the baby carrier and crouched down.“Alright Steven,” Garnet said as she lifted him up and into the shopping cart. “What would you like to eat?”

Steven didn’t really grasp the idea of buying things yet, but he absolutely knew what he wanted to eat. He stopped for a moment, looking deep in thought, before pointing enthusiastically at a box of rice. “Ah!”

Garnet took it off the shelf and dropped it into the cart, much to Steven’s extreme delight. As Garnet pushed him down the aisle, he clapped his hands and pointed to whatever caught his eye, regardless if he’d actually eaten them before. Like raisins because they were purple, or anchovies because he liked looking at fish.

Halfway down the condiments aisle and in the middle of dropping a container of honey-mustard into the cart, Garnet stopped in her tracks. She had realized she had forgotten to get Cookie-Cats, one of the items on Greg’s short suggested list. She didn’t want to run the risk of not buying the sandwiches- Greg did know best about Steven’s wants, and she didn’t want to tempt fate. Garnet paused for a moment, leaning out of the aisle to look around. She could see the ice-cream shelf only a few sections over, but Steven was whining- he wanted to go in the opposite direction.

She turned to Steven, holding up her hand. “I’ll be gone only a moment Steven,” She explained. “Just hold still.” 

The entire walk to the ice-cream shelf, the time it took to open the freezer door and remove a few ice-cream sandwiches, and the time it took for Garnet to close said door and turn around amounted to about forty-five seconds.

And in those forty-five seconds, Steven had disappeared from his seat in the cart.

Garnet just about doubled over in shock. “Ugh, _Steven_ ” She muttered, dropping the sandwiches into the cart and crouching down to look under it. 

No Steven to be seen. Garnet stood up straight and adjusted her visor, looking briefly into the streams of the future. Almost all of them resulted in her finding Steven safe, with only one unlikely future resulting in him becoming kidnapped. But she found him over varying amounts of time. A few minutes, and hour, a few hours, a day, maybe two- Steven might be safe, but after two days away from home, Steven would throw the worst fit Beach City had ever seen.

Garnet grimaced and grabbed the cart, jogging along the fronts of the aisles. “Steven!” She ran the length of the store twice, looking in each aisle with no luck. No Steven to be found. Garnet scowled, leaving the cart to go to the help center.

Operating the center was a young, bored-looking teenager, who looked half-asleep behind the glass of the booth. Garnet drummed her fingertips impatiently against it. “Store keeper.” She said, staring down the teenager from behind her visor. No response. Garnet rolled her eyes and knocked her hand against the glass hard enough to make it wobble. “I require assistance.”

The boy jerked up, almost dropping his phone. “Uh- oh! Okay, right, sorry.” He sat up straight, clearing his throat as he did so. “What can I.. Assist you with?”

“I need to make an announcement.”

“Uh. What.. For?”

Garnet exhaled, her irritation starting to bubble. “I’ve lost my boy. I’d like to make an announcement and find him.”

The teenager ducked under his desk for a moment, retrieving a stack of forms. “Uh huh. Okay, so can you tell me when you last saw him?”

“Six minutes ago.”

The boy nodded and very, very, slowly wrote that down. “Oookay.. What was he wearing?”

Garnet tilted her head up, taking a calming breath. “A red shirt and jean shorts.”

“What brand?”

Garnet very, very, slowly lowered her head and looked at the teen. “I. Don’t. _Know_.” She snapped. “This is not necessary.”

The teenager shrugged and scribbled something else down. “I mean, it’s company policy. So it’s kinda necessary.” He flipped to a different page in his stack of papers. “Okay, so approximately what height would you say he i-” The teen cut himself off, slapping his hand to his forehead. “Wait! What am I doing, asking questions like these?"

Garnet sighed with relief.

“What’s your kid’s name?” 

Garnet flung her hands up in exasperation, ripped off her visor, and slapped both of her hands to against the glass, pressing her face against it. She scowled, narrowing all three of her eyes at him. “Leave the booth. _Now.”_ She snarled. 

Her three eye glare worked on every human she’d ever used it on- leaving them pale and shaking, absolutely terrified. But in this case, the boy just raised an eyebrow. “Cool prosthetic,” He remarked, completely disinterested. “And nice contacts.” He pressed his pencil to the paper, raising his eyes to Garnet’s. “What did you say his name was again?”

Garnet stared, dumbfounded. She replaced her visor, took a deep breath, and cracked her knuckles. She was just about to shatter the glass the teen was sitting behind, when a voice rang out behind her.

“Hi! Excuse me, miss with the tall hair! Lady!”

Garnet tensed up and whipped around, prepared to snap at whoever had spoken to her, until she saw Steven holding hands with a tall woman with blonde hair. The woman was dressed in what Garnet recognized as a Mailman’s uniform, her hair pulled back into a tight ponytail. To her left was Steven, completely covered in ice-cream and sand. To her right was a five or six year old girl, standing slightly behind her mother, looking incredibly shy. The woman lifted Steven’s hand up. “Is this your boy?”  

Garnet frowned at Steven, who giggled. “Yes. He is.”

The blonde woman laughed. “I found him crawling around outside,” She explained. “He had eaten probably four or five ice-cream sandwiches, and had an entire bag of chips that he was halfway done with.” She let go of Steven’s hand, who toddled forward and grabbed onto Garnet’s leg. “I asked him if he knew what you looked like, and the second we got into the store he pointed you out.”

Steven nodded enthusiastically, grinning up at Garnet, who continued to frown back at him.

A pregnant pause hung in the air, until the woman leaned forward and extended her hand. “I’m Barbra, but everyone calls me Barb.” She said. Garnet stared at her hand until she awkwardly dropped it. “Uhm. And this is my daughter, Sadie.” Sadie raised her hand in a silent greeting, looking anywhere but Garnet’s face.

Garnet nodded. “Nice to meet you both.” She responded, still focusing on Steven. “Thank you for returning my boy to me. Especially considering of how much _trouble_ he’s in.” 

Steven looked slightly abashed, glancing away from Garnet’s face.

She looked back up. “We were grocery shopping, and I looked away for only a few seconds- he had disappeared.” She adjusted her visor. “Thank you both.”

Barbra waved her thanks off. “It was no problem, really. He’s such a sweet boy.” Barbra paused then glanced over her shoulder at Garnet’s cart of food. “That cart right there yours?”

“Yes.”

“Uh..” Barbra scratched the back of her head. “Steven looks pretty young. I don’t think he should be eating much of that stuff.”

Garnet shrugged. “I let him pick out what he wanted to eat. He knows what he likes.”

Barbra looked surprised. “Yeah, that’s.. Not a great tactic.” She leaned over and grabbed her own cart. “I could help you shop for more.. Age-appropriate stuff, if you’d like.”

Garnet thought it over a moment. “I would appreciate that.”

The next half hour consisted of Steven’s bawling as he watched Garnet replace all of his favorite foods back onto the shelf, replaced with things Barbra picked out- kids meals, fruits, cereals, eggs, milk, and other things. The two finally parted ways at the checkout line.

“It was a pleasure meeting you.” Garnet said, actually sticking her own hand out for Barbra to shake.

Barbra looked immensely pleased, shaking Garnet’s hand with a strong grip. “And you as well. Let me know if you need any help with him,” She added, gesturing towards the still crying Steven. “Sadie was quite the handful herself.”

Sadie was currently sitting quietly on the sidewalk, not making a fuss at all. Garnet had a hard time imagining her as anything like Steven was now.

But the two families finally went their separate ways. Garnet took Steven home and cooked pasta with meatballs along with lots of broccoli- which set off an extremely large temper-tantrum. She also refused to give him desert, triggering another meltdown. Garnet explained quite thoroughly that he had run off even though she had told him not to, which was why he wasn’t able to eat what he wanted.

Steven stopped crying, but still looked extremely upset. “No fair,” He muttered, crossing his arms and sticking his bottom lip out. He was sitting on the couch, and when Garnet sat down next him, he turned away. Garnet waited about thirty seconds before Steven caved, diving over and wrapping his arms around her torso.

“Sorrrrrrry,” He tilted his head up gave Garnet the best puppy eyes he could manage. Garnet readjusted her visor and smiled.

“While I appreciate your apology Steven,” Garnet said as she lifted him onto her lap. “You still aren’t getting desert."

Steven groaned and fell dramatically off the couch. Well, tried to.

Garnet easily caught him before he hit the ground. “Nice try, little one.”

 

“No fair.”

  



	5. Chapter 5

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Garnet and Steven have Onion over for a playdate. It goes about how you'd expect.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! Hope you enjoy the story, sorry this chapter took so long. School has been kicking my butt! Get ready for some shenanigans this chapter though!

Garnet didn't know Vidalia all that well. She knew that Amethyst had been close to the human, and that Greg had been close to her as well. She knew she had two boys- Sour Cream and Onion. She had seen Vidalia walking with them down the boardwalk- Vidalia had smiled politely at Garnet, who, preoccupied with a then-newborn Steven, did not return the gesture. All the same, she had expected the phone call from Vidalia.

Garnet was trying to feed Steven oatmeal when her phone rang. Steven was eating it, but he would just hold it in his mouth- the second Garnet turned away, he would spit it at her and shriek with laughter. She was starting to get slightly annoyed, so she was more than happy to go and pick the phone up from the counter.

She used a paper towel to wipe her face as she accepted the call. “Hello?”

“Uh.. Hello. This is Garnet, right?”

“It is.”

“Well, I’m Vidalia. Onion’s mother? Greg gave me this number yesterday- he suggested Onion and Steven have a playdate.” 

“I know.” 

“You-” Vidalia started, sounding confused. “I- Uh.. Okay. Well, I’m free to bring Onion over now if you’d like. I’d watch them myself, but i’ve got to go to work.” 

Garnet wiped the last of the oatmeal off of her face, and threw it away. “That would be fine-” She paused. “One moment.”

Garnet pressed the phone to her shoulder, turning to look at Steven. “I see you. Put the oatmeal in your mouth.” She said sternly. Steven, who had the spoon bent back to throw the food at Garnet, quickly stuck it in his mouth.

Garnet held the phone back up. “My apologies. As I was saying, Steven would love to have Onion over.”

“Awesome. Thank you so much- I’ll drop him off now, and i’ll be over right after my shift ends to pick him up from your place.”

\-----------

A half hour later, Onion and Steven were sitting on the floor in the living room together. Garnet had realized very early on she didn’t exactly know how to host a playdate. So she dropped all of Steven’s toys between them, and figured they would just entertain themselves. Steven babbled and clapped his hands, grabbing a toy and showing it off to Onion. Onion looked mildly interested, but not distressed. Garnet decided that they could keep themselves out of trouble for a few minutes.

It was not a good decision.

Garnet had retreated into the temple for a moment. A half hour, tops. Just to check on the bubbles, make sure nothing had cracked or broken, meditate, and then come right back out.

She came back just in time to see Onion violently snatch Steven’s teddy bear from his hands and slap him directly in the nose, shouted something unintelligible, and scooted backwards and hugging it close to his chest.

Steven clasped his hands over his nose, looking shocked. Then he sniffled and his eyes began to fill with tears. He opened his mouth and started gasping like a fish- Steven’s sign that he was about to lose it. A few seconds went by, Steven holding that pained, gasping look, his chest trembling as he sucked in air to start bawling- when his mouth closed, and with piercing(though still watery) eyes he glared at Onion. Then, with a battle cry that sounded half warrior and half distressed ten-month-old, he launched -well, rolled- himself at Onion.

The battle was halfway resolved by the time Garnet had sprinted over to the two of them. Steven had originally just been trying to take his bear back, but Onion’s iron grip on the toy had left Steven slapping Onion’s head and screeching. Onion was saying nothing, but was fighting back just as ruthlessly, kicking at Steven as fast and hard as he could.

Garnet leaned down and separated the two with a swift movement. “ _Stop_ !” She shouted, holding them at arms length from one another. To her surprise, this did not stop them. Onion managed to wrench himself from her grip, and fell towards the floor. He landed - _on his feet_ \- and fell against Garnet’s leg, pummeling her with his fists and trying to reach Steven at the same time. Then Steven, while flailing and jabbering angrily at Onion, grabbed Garnet’s arm with chubby hands and did something he’d never done before.

He _bit_ Garnet.

The pain was so surprising and unexpected that even though it didn’t hurt, she still let go of Steven’s collar. He did not land on his feet, instead landing heavily on his butt. This, unfortunately, gave Onion the upper hand. Onion wasted no time throwing himself forward and punching Steven in the nose as hard as he could- but Steven, who had been struggling to stand up, and had been swinging his arm around to find his balance, accidentally slapped Onion across the face with his open-palm. The two of them had traded equally hard blows.

Both boys stared at each other for half a millisecond, while Garnet watched in near-horror. Then they both broke in hysterical wails.

The left side of Onion’s face was a bright red, and Steven’s nose was trickling blood. Garnet pressed her hand against her visor, and groaned. Steven had fallen over and was clinging to her leg screaming, choking every half second on his tears. Onion wasn’t really crying- he was just flat out screaming, his hand glued to his face.

Garnet _really_ didn’t think she could manage them both at the same time.

So, reluctantly, Garnet relaxed. She sighed, pressed her hands together, and in a flash of light- she was gone.

And in her place were Ruby and Sapphire, both looking slightly panicked.

“Okay! Sapphire, you take care of the… Onion? The onion boy!” Ruby shouted, turning and scooping Steven up. Steven recognized Ruby immediately and flung his arms around her neck, sobbing into her shoulder. “I’ll stop Steven’s nose from bleeding!”

Sapphire nodded. “Okay.” She crouched down in front of Onion, who was still screaming. Sapphire couldn’t remember if she had seen him breathe yet. She reached out and hesitantly patted his shoulder. “There… There. Onion boy.” She awkwardly tried to lean down and hug him.

He didn’t seem to like that, his screaming hitting an entirely new pitch. Sapphire leaned back, rubbing her temples. It was almost as bad as when Steven had hit his head a few nights before. After a few more failed attempts to soothe Onion, Sapphire finally gave up and turned to see how Ruby was doing with Steven.

Steven was sitting on the counter, a tissue twisted and hanging and out of his nose. He was still sniffling, but he was kicking his legs and had stopped crying. He was watching Ruby make faces and dance around the kitchen, obviously trying very hard to make him feel better. But every few seconds, he would look over his shoulder at Onion and Sapphire, but only for a moment. He would look past them, at something behind Onion’s back.

Sapphire turned around, seeing Steven’s teddy bear on the ground. She reached behind Onion and picked it up. Onion protested with a shriek, lunging forward to try and take it back. Sapphire floated back, holding the bear up. “You cannot have this,” She explained as best she could over Onion’s voice. “It belongs to Steven.” 

Sapphire held the bear up, looking at Ruby. “I think this would make him feel better.” Ruby  paused and picked Steven up, letting him rest on her hip and turning around.

“Is that whatcha want buddy?” She asked, pointing towards the bear, wincing as Onion started kicking his feet against the wood and screeching even louder. Steven nodded.

Ruby brought Steven back over to Sapphire and Onion, making sure the two boys weren’t too close together. “Here you go.” She handed the bear back to Steven, who held it tightly for a moment. He looked down at it, over at the screaming Onion, at Ruby and Sapphire, and then back to Onion. Then, after one last tight hug, held the bear out to him.

All three of them were shocked. Onion stared at Steven for a moment, all screams stopped, then suspiciously reached out and took the bear’s arm. Steven stretched his arms out even farther in response. “Give.” Steven said firmly, nodding his head. Onion stared at him, but with disbelief in his face, wrapped his arms around the bear and crushed him to his chest.

Ruby and Sapphire exchanged glances. Ruby shrugged her shoulders, while Sapphire just turned and watched Onion start to chew on the shoulder of Steven’s bear.

\-----------------------

 

Vidalia came over an hour later. Steven and Onion had gotten along fine since their first fight, eating their respective lunches and watching a TV show without any problems. Steven seemed more than happy to give up his teddy bear that he’d fought so hard for, while Onion had completely lost interest in it. It had been difficult for Ruby and Sapphire to explain to Vidalia where Garnet had gone, but she seemed to absorb the information without too much disbelief. She just shook her head and muttered under her breath. “Greg, for all the people to have a kid with..” She sighed and picked Onion up from the floor, thanked Ruby and Sapphire for being such gracious hosts, and to send her regards to Garnet, before leaving the beach house. As she walked, Onion started intensely at Ruby, Sapphire, and Steven. As Ruby and Sapphire reflected on later, neither of them could remember seeing him blink. 

Sapphire picked Steven up when Onion left, setting him down on the couch. She and Ruby exchanged glances.

“Steven-” They both started at the same time. They exchanged looks again before Ruby held her hands up, leaning back. “Go ahead, Sapphire.”

Sapphire nodded her appreciation. “Steven. While you should never hit people-”

“Unless they hit you first-” Ruby interjected.

Sapphire lifted her hair and sent Ruby and severe look. Ruby gave a wide smile in apology. “-We think it was very sweet of you to give Onion your bear.”

“Which is why we’re going to let you have a Cookie Cat!” Ruby finished, the serious mood disapitating and she held out the cat shaped package.Steven didn’t get most of what either of the gems had said, but he was elated about getting an ice-cream, so he just nodded enthusiastically and grabbed the cat from Ruby’s hands, practically biting off the packaging.

While Steven inhaled the frozen treat, Ruby wrapped her arm around Sapphire. “We are the _best_ parents,” She declared. “What other toddler would get attacked and just give up his prized possession, just because his attacker got upset?” She shook her head. “He’s got his mother’s heart, that’s for sure.”

Sapphire smiled faintly. “Yes. He really does.” She responded, leaning her head on Ruby’s shoulder. “And I am so glad we’re around to see him grow into it.”


	6. Chapter 6

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Garnet makes a promise to Steven to take him to the zoo, but has some trouble fulfilling that wish.

One more day until Greg came back. Just one more.

This is what Garnet repeated to reassure herself as she tried to get Steven in the tub. Steven, usually quite compliant when it came to baths, had suddenly had a change of heart and was refusing to go anywhere near the water. Garnet was scrambling to hold onto him, trying to avoid his flailing kicks while he squirmed and thrashed in her arms.

“Zoo!” He shouted as he slapped his hand against Garnet’s visor, trying to climb over her shoulder to freedom. “Wan Zoo!”

Garnet sighed. Yesterday she had told Steven they could go to the zoo, since he had begged to visit it after watching an ad on TV. After an hour and a half of non-stop asking, she caved and wearily said yes, they could visit the zoo at some point. Steven had been satisfied with this answer, and hadn’t asked for the rest of the day. She had thought he’d forgotten about it, but since he’d woken up this morning the only thing he could babble about was going to see the zoo. She supposed this was the price she would have to pay for making what was supposed to be a false promise.

“Alright, ow, okay, Steven,” Garnet ground out as she used her foot to close the bathroom door and set Steven on the floor. “We can go to the zoo.”

Steven’s eyes brightened and he beamed, clapping his hands. “Zoo!”

“But. You must take your bath first.”

Steven smile immediately turned into a frown. Garnet watched him furrow his brows, as if he was deeply considering her proposal. After about thirty seconds he decided the trade off was worth it, nodding his head with a firm “Ah.”

A half hour later, Steven was clean, dressed, and sitting happily in his stroller. Garnet was sitting on the couch staring at a map of the bus routes, trying her best to figure out which one they should take. She couldn’t make heads or tails of it- the winding roads with the bright colors were giving her a headache. She stared at it for a few more seconds, then tried turning the map upside down. She quickly found out this would not help.

After a few more minutes of intense staring, Garnet pinched the bridge of her nose and simply tossed the map over her shoulder. I can figure it out without that thing.

And with her future vision, she could. Unfortunately, her future vision was not able to tell her what time the bus departed. She and Steven made it to the bus station just as the bus that would have taken them directly to the zoo sped away from the station.

Garnet, though not needing to breathe, took a deep and frustrated breath as she watched their bus drive away, and listened to Steven say goodbye with a cheerful and oblivious “Bye bye bus!”

Garnet pressed two fingers to her visor, crossing her other arm over her stomach as she thought. The zoo closed at five. It was currently one. The zoo was an hour from this station. If she wanted Steven to be able to see anything in the zoo, she was going to have to figure out another way to get there.

Garnet made her way over to teenager sitting inside the ticket booth. The boy, who looked quite familiar, was playing on his phone.

Garnet, feeling a wave of déjà vu come over her, rapped on the glass of the booth.

The boy glanced up at her, a flicker of annoyance crossing his face “Yeah?” He asked dismissively, his eyes already sliding back to his phone.

Garnet immediately made a mental note to leave a poor review on the station’s website. “When does the next bus for the zoo arrive?”

The boy sighed and rolled his eyes, exasperated with the burden of actually having to do his job. “The bus just left, right? It’s an hour there and an hour back. The driver will probably need an hour to relax and refuel, so it should be back around four.” He grinned venomously at her. “The zoo closes at five. You’ll get there just in time to see those gates close.”

Garnet, while glaring daggers through her visor, recognized the teen. He was from the grocery store. “Did you not work at the store in town?”

“Got fired for poor customer service.”

“Understandably.” Garnet muttered as she turned and grabbed Steven’s stroller, walking the both of them away. Though she was now seriously irritated, she did smile when Steven shouted a goodbye to the clerk, the boy not even realizing how rude the teen had been. Everyday he reminded her more and more of Rose.

But, Garnet noted as she sat on the bench and lifted Steven out of his stroller onto her lap holding him to her chest, regardless of what she thought of Steven, she still didn’t have a way to get herself and the boy to the zoo.

As Garnet sat and thought, she took a pamphlet for the zoo that she had printed out before they’d left the house out of her bag. She thumbed through it for a while before stopping at a specific picture.

Her face split into a smile and she laughed, shaking her head. Adjusting her visor again, she used her future vision briefly, and quickly picked a course. Clearing her head, Garnet held the picture up to Steven. “Do you know what this is, little one?” She asked him.

Steven squinted at the picture and exclaimed, “A pantha!”

“Right. A panther. Would you like to see one?”

Steven stared at her and started nodding so fast Garnet was legitimately worried he would hurt himself. Garnet looked around, making sure that the teenager was still on his phone, and nobody else was nearby. Deciding that they were in the clear, Garnet set Steven on the bench and stood up.

One of the many abilities gems possessed was shapeshifting. Despite Garnet being a fusion, she could shapeshift into just about anything she pleased. Garnet absolutely preferred being in her natural form, but she knew how fast cheetahs, tigers, panthers, and lions could be. And she knew for a fact that they were fast enough to get to the zoo within an hour.

Out of all of these animals though, she preferred the panther. She was planning on carrying Steven sixty miles- she didn’t want someone to accidentally spot them and call the police, or animal control, or something of the sort. Being fast and sleek minimized that risk.

Garnet reached down and squeezed one of Steven’s chubby hands. “I’m not going to go anywhere, alright? I’m still going to be right here.” She reassured him. The last thing she wanted was for Steven to have a meltdown like when she had unfused just a few days earlier.

Steven looked alright with all this, but Garnet still wasn’t entirely sure he understood what she was saying. Garnet let go of Steven’s hand, chuckling to herself. “I really can’t believe I’m doing this just so you can go to the zoo,” She murmured. “You really have me wrapped around your little finger.” Garnet stepped back and crossed her arms, dropping her chin to her chest.

Half a second later, Garnet was gone. She had been replaced by a russet-colored two hundred and ten pound panther, complete with a dark gray visor. A bonafide killing machine, with teeth that were able to bite through a person’s arm with ease, and could probably swallow a baby.

Steven saw all of this, and gawked at Garnet. After he said and did nothing she feared she might’ve scared and him, and was about to go back to her natural form, when Steven squealed.

“Kitty!”

He leaned forward and pressed his hand against her visor. “Garneh!” Steven threw his hands up, obviously ecstatic. “Bof! Garneh and Kitty!”

After a frustrating ten minutes of Garnet switching to and from her natural form to a panther while trying to fit into a baby-carrier, Garnet has finally gotten Steven sat on her shoulders. She would have been worried he could fall off and hurt himself while she moved, but that future was incredibly unlikely- she had checked far in advance.

Pearl would be having a fit, Garnet thought to herself as she walked around, making Steven was secured. And Amethyst.. She’d be ecstatic.

At this point, Steven was getting impatient to get going. He dug his heels into Garnets side. “Go, horsey!” He shouted.

Garnet frowned and turned back to look at him, blowing air in his face- he didn’t seem to get the memo to remove his heels, and giggled instead.

Garnet rolled her eyes and huffed, but after another quick moment to triple-check Steven was safe, she leaned down and took off.

Garnet was smart enough to go through the forest off to the side rather than the center of the highway- she didn’t want to be caught, after all. Steven was having a great time, shrieking into the wind and sticking his hands up in the air. Garnet moved quite easily, going mostly on path as she ran. Large cats could run up to sixty miles an hour in short bursts, but Garnet maintained that pace. Her gem form couldn’t move that fast, but shapeshifting into an animal that could granted her the ability.

Plus, Steven really seemed to like it.

Within an hour, they were in the woods next to the Delmarva State Zoo. Garnet actually saw the bus that left them in the dirt parked in the lot. She exhaled, squinting her eyes, and very carefully reversed back into her natural form- making sure not to startle Steven with the sudden change.

Steven clapped his hands as Garnet held him. “Are you alright, Steven?” She questioned, leaning down to look at him. “That was a while.”

Steven grabbed her nose with a tiny fist. “Again!” He cooed. Garnet smiled.

“Maybe another day, Steven,” She responded wearily, getting her baby bag from where it had fallen on the ground. “Because I am not doing that on the way back.” She slid down the slight incline next to the parking lot, making her way to the entrance, while Steven wrapped his arms around her neck and babbled cheerfully as she leaned over and ruffled his hair.

Of course, Garnet’s bad luck when it came to babysitting couldn’t just end there.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yo! So, originally this was going to be just one chapter, but I've decided to split it into two so you guys won't be waiting another week. And yes, Garnet DOES use her shapeshifting power in the next chapter- it wasn't random. Anyways, I'm hoping to get this out by next week, but no promises- I'm taking three AP classes and an Honors class, so I'm kinda swamped with work :P peace out!


	7. Chapter 7

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Garnet tries to take Steven around the zoo, but finds out that watching him proves to be more difficult than she expected. Especially when that baby is the son of Rose Quartz.

Garnet carried Steven on her hip as she made her way to the zoo’s front gate. He was giggling and clapping his hands, blowing a raspberry. She made her way to the toll booth while simultaneously fitting Steven into the baby carrier on her back. Doing this while walking would be an impossible feat for any human, but Garnet managed it with little to no difficulty, swinging Steven onto her back.

She’d never been to a zoo, but she could read the map on the wall a bit better than the bus’s map lines. “What would you like to see first, Steven?” She asked. Steven poked the back of her neck, pushing at his neck with her hands.

“Ah.” Steven pulled Garnet’s hair.

“Sorry.”

She tilted her head so his vision wasn’t obscured by her hair, and so he could see the colorful map and pictures. The boy paused, staring intently before answering.

“Wion.”

Garnet laughed, reaching back and patting his head. “I should have guessed,” She told him. “You really love felines.” As she walked towards the enclosure she murmured, mostly to herself. “You should see Amethyst’s different forms. You would love to see her lion. Or her Pearl impression.” She chuckled.

Steven didn’t exactly understand what Garnet was was telling him, but he heard Pearl and Amethyst’s names. “Pel and Ame?” He questioned. Garnet pursed her lips in response, but said nothing. It had been four days since they were poofed- the longest Steven had gone without seeing either of them. She couldn’t help but wonder how he felt about it- although, she didn’t think he’d understood if she asked him.

After ten minutes of walking, Garnet began to think that she had ended up getting lost, when a lion’s roar startled her, coming from around the corner. “Wion!” Steven exclaimed, leaning forward and pointing towards the sound.

Garnet nodded as she made her way towards the enclosement. “Lion.” She agreed.

The second they got in front of the lion’s den, Steven let out a loud shriek, slapping his hands against the back of Garnet’s neck once again. She raised her eyebrows and turned her head to look at him. His mouth was open wide enough to catch flies, brown eyes lit up with excitement, his arms stuck out in front of him. “Wion.” He whispered, awe scribbled all over his chubby face. “Wuv wion.” Garnet felt her heart just about melting as she watched him, her Steven. Her entire being was made of love, the love of two gems who had sworn to protect each other through any and all danger, and seeing Steven giggle and coo with excitement made her feel stronger than ever. Like she could take down a mountain if it was in her way- and she would, if it posed any risk to her boy.

So, when she heard a meek and feeble voice scream “Thief! Oh, there’s a thief! They’ve taken my purse! Someone stop her! Oh, my purse!”  Garnet took a quarter of a step backwards as a young woman with flowing pink hair sprinted by her, her assortment of different metal piercings flashing in the in the sunlight as she ran.

Garnet sighed, exasperated. Her mission was to protect all humans, but she had promised Steven she would take him around the zoo. She didn’t want to leave him. But after a few seconds of internal deliberation, she admitted to herself that she had to. Just for a few seconds.

So, with her signature speed and agility, she swung the baby carrier holding Steven off her back and handed it to the woman who’s purse she was going to retrieve. After a half second of thought, she made the assumption that due to the woman’s age, she probably wouldn’t kidnap Steven. “Hold him. Do not let him go.” Garnet instructed, and booked it after the pink-haired thief.

It took her ten seconds of what to her was light jogging, until she was right on the heels of the girl, who was running as fast as she could. She jogged behind the teen for a moment, removed her visor, then tapped her lightly her on the shoulder. “Excuse me.”

The girl whipped around. Her mouth dropped open as she stared at Garnet’s face, fixated on her third eye. “Wh-who-wh-” She started to stammer, going slack-jawed.

Unfortunately, her sentence was cut short by the sudden appearance of a light post in her path.

The thief slammed face-first into the post, the bag flying out of her hands into the air. Garnet easily maneuvered around the unfortunate obstacle, catching the bag with one hand. She reapplied her visor and stepped back as people crowded around the girl, asking her if she was alright and such, not realizing that Garnet had just chased her down for robbery. She considered exposing the girl for her crimes or letting her go, but she decided that it would be better if the girl learned her lesson now, rather than later on in her life. Garnet cleared her throat loudly to draw attention, and stepped into the center of the circle of zoo-goers.

“This girl is a thief.” She announced, holding up the purse. ”I caught her stealing this bag-” She pointed in the general direction of where the old lady and Steven were. “From an elderly, defenseless woman.” The girl didn’t even try to defend herself- she just nodded, looking like the blow she’d taken had sent her a million miles from earth.

The crowd’s attitude changed from worry to anger in a millisecond, accompanied with calls for the police and security. Garnet stepped out, hoisting the purse back onto her shoulder. Finally, she could get back to her day with Steven.

Of course, when she returned to the old lady with her purse, Steven was nowhere to be seen.

Garnet didn’t notice at first. She held out the bag to the old woman, feeling quite satisfied with herself. “I apprehended the thief. Your belongings were not damaged.” She smiled. “No need to thank me, of course.”

The woman just looked at her, looking completely perplexed. “...Who are you?”

Garnet raised an eyebrow. “I recovered your purse. From the thief.”

“What thief?”

Garnet squinted in disbelief, making sure that she had returned the bag to the right woman. After a second, she concluded that yes, she had the right person. “The one who took your purse?”

The woman stared blankly for a moment, before nodding her head. “Ah, yes! My grandson does occasionally take it so he can have some money for school,” She said cheerfully. “Thank you dearie. You really are my favorite grandchild.” She reached up and patted Garnet’s cheek. “Don’t tell your siblings though, of course!” She looked away, a faraway glaze glossing her eyes. After about thirty seconds, she looked back at Garnet. “..Who are you again?”

Garnet gawked at her. The woman had no idea who Garnet was- a very concerning fact, considering she’d left...

“Miss!” Garnet shouted, suddenly frantic. She crouched down in front of the elderly woman, waving her hands in her face. “Miss! There was a boy left here with you, where is he?”

The woman blinked at her. “A boy?”

“Yes! A baby, curly hair, red shirt, blue jeans? This tall-ish?” Garnet held her hand an inch off the ground. “Where did he go?”

The woman paused, looking thoughtful. “Yes, I know where he is.” She answered after a few painstakingly long moments.

“Where?”

The woman paused for a bit longer, before answering with full confidence. “I saw him at a movie theatre in 1935.” She smiled wistfully. “Oh, who would have thought that young, troublesome marine would become my husband? I did not.” She laughed. “But the unexpected surprises are often the best.” She sighed wistfully, then turned towards Garnet. “I’m sorry, what did you ask me?”

Garnet grit her teeth with frustration, pressing her hand against her visor. Her future vision was spiraling, all the unknowns from the situation creating millions of possible streams for the future. And Garnet didn’t have enough power to control the ship, not without knowing where Steven was. Unlike the grocery store, there were a trillion more dangers in a zoo- meaning that there were so many more futures where something awful happened to her boy.

She was just trying to decide what to do, when she heard an extremely informative shout.

“ _Oh my god! There’s a baby in the lion’s den! Oh my god, someone call for help! How did a baby get in there?”_

Garnet was off like a light, bolting towards the lion enclosure. And sure enough, baby Steven was crawling enthusiastically towards a sleeping lion, looking unhurt and quite excited. She didn’t want to think about _how_ he managed to get into a lion’s den with no injuries, because if she did, Garnet thought she might actually keel over. 

Instead, she vaulted over stunned observers, clinging to the mesh fence that kept the lions and humans separated. The fence was around fifteen feet high, and intentionally difficult to climb.

Well, it would be difficult to climb for any human.

Garnet on the other hand, was able to launch herself upwards, swinging herself over the mesh fence and into the air, falling fifteen feet into the lion’s domain.

She landed and tucked into a role, scooping Steven up to her chest, and scrambling backwards. The lion had heard all of the commotion when Garnet had dropped to the other side of the fence, and was now very much awake, and not happy at all about it. It snarled at both her and Steven, standing and stalking towards them, the telltale signs of aggression very clear. It growled deeply at them, and Garnet could see sharp claws slide out and dig into the ground.

Garnet felt a twinge of worry in her gut, just for a moment. And not for her- for Steven. That lion was bigger than him by tenfold, and could swallow him in one bite. Steven would be a noontime snack.

So, she reasoned, she’d just have to be bigger.

Within a second, Garnet was gone. She had been replaced by a snarling, incredibly angry and maternal lion. Not a lioness- Garnet’s lion form was complete with a mane, and her visor as well. She was twice the size of the resident lion, and she reasoned three times as terrifying.

She moved forward and bared her teeth- she didn’t exactly snarl, but she did huff. She reasoned that would be enough to scare off the other, offending, lion, but it wasn’t. In fact, it just growled louder. She was facing off against an extremely large and territorial cat.

So, Garnet took the next step. She turned back to Steven, who was watching with pure joy on his face, and then back to her contender. She shook her head, leaned forward, and _roared._

The only reason Garnet would take the form of a lion before today was to do this. The sound was sounded deep and intense, a low and powerful noise. A noise made by an animal that was a walking death machine.

Or, a noise made by Garnet. Both were terrifying.

Her rival seemed to shrink in size, flattening his ears and backing away. Garnet darted forward, just to get the other lion moving. It worked- the animal slinked away, tail between its legs and it worked to make itself scarce.

And then Garnet was Garnet again, scooping Steven up into her arms. “You are going to be the death of me,” She muttered into his curly hair. “I hope you know that. Having me jump into lion dens, just so you can get an up-close view of one.” She snorted. “What would Rose say?”

Steven twisted and grinned at her. “Wion!” He declared.

“Hm. You’re right, Steven.” Garnet looked up at the sky as she adjusted her visor. “I bet she would say that.”

Garnet turned to start climbing out of the lion’s pit before any zoo officials made their way over, making sure she had a tight grip on Steven.

“She’d also tell me not to leave her only son with senile old women, and let him fall into lion's dens.” Garnet added as she hoisted the both of them out of the enclosure.

“But she did always have a fondness for lions. And senile old women”

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey! I got a new chapter out for you guys. There's going to be one more chapter after all of this, with all of the Crystal Gems! So stay tuned for that guys. Peace!


	8. Chapter 8

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Garnet takes Steven to funland, but not by herself.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is it guys! The last chapter. I had the most fun writing this one for sure, and I think it's the best by far. I hope you all like it!

Garnet was walking back from the grocery store, awkwardly trying to hold four different bags at once. It was one in the afternoon, and Greg wouldn’t be back until at least ten or eleven that night. Steven had gone through all of the cookie cats in the house, along with the pasta, all of the fruit snacks, the saltines, half of their milk, and an entire carton of apple juice. She had a feeling that his monstrous appetite was not a phase regular human boys went through. Well, baby boys at least.

She had slipped out of the house before Steven woke up- he wouldn’t get into any trouble if he was curled up under a blanket. As she walked towards the stairs of the beach house, she thought about the things she would need to do with him today. He needed to get a bath, eat, she would probably have to go back out for diapers and maybe a blanket, since he’d torn a hole into his last night-

Garnet was so distracted that she almost didn’t hear the voices coming from the living room of the house. As she reached the top of the stairs, the sound of a gravelly voice speaking knocked her out of her stupor and into a fierce protectiveness within a second. Garnet hurled the bags against the deck and kicked the door open with her foot, bolting inside with her face twisted into a snarl and her gauntlets resting on her arms, her whole body tensed for a fight.

But instead of being met with some new foe, she was met with the surprised eyes of both Amethyst and Pearl, who were sitting on the couch with Steven sandwiched between them, both fully reformed. Steven looked ecstatic to be sitting where he was, and shrieked the second he saw Garnet. “Look!” He poked Pearl in the eye (which she protested with an indignant noise) and slapped Amethyst in his face as he squirmed and laughed. “Look, Garneh!” 

Garnet quickly got rid of her gauntlets. “I see them, Steven.” She adjusted her visor as a smile settled on her face. “I bet you missed those two quite a lot.”

Amethyst launched herself off the couch, flinging her arms around Garnet’s midsection. “Don’t tell me you didn’t miss us either!” She exclaimed, grinning. “I bet baby Steve has been nothin’ but trouble.” She turned around and tweaked Steven’s nose. “I hope he has, at least. That’s what I’ve been trying to teach him to do.” 

Pearl scoffed, adjusting Steven on her lap while subtly pulling him away from Amethyst. “Garnet’s a bit more responsible than you are. I doubt she’d let anything happen to Steven.” She stood up, moving to Garnet’s side. “How was it, though? I hope you remembered everything.” She bounced Steven as she talked, a worried look on her face. “You didn’t have anyone to help you, I’m not sure I could have even taken care of him myself for a whole weekend.” Pearl laughed, but it sounded strained. “I mean, what if he had gotten sick? Or gotten a cut?” She started to fret, squeezing Steven tighter to her side. “Or- gotten a fever, or-”

Garnet cut her off by patting her shoulder and chuckling. “It’s wonderful to have you back.” She put her arm around Amethyst’s shoulders before she could protest about being left out. “And I’ve missed you as well, Amethyst.”

There was a pleasant moment of relaxed silence before Steven broke the silence with a loud, “STEVEN!” And threw his chubby arms in the air, beaming at all three of them. Amethyst laughed and plucked him out of Pearl’s arms, twirling around the house and tossing him periodically into the air.

Pearl grimaced the entire time, crossing her arms as she watched with disdain. “One of these days she’s going to drop him,” She muttered, her eyes never leaving them.

Garnet patted her shoulder again, and stepped forward, catching Steven just before he landed in Amethyst’s arms. “You would’ve dropped him that time,” She told her, easily swinging the boy to her hip, who seemed just as pleased as before. 

Amethyst waved her away. “Eh. Kids only learn through trial and error, right?” She cooed and stuck her finger in the boy’s face, who started to chew on it. “Agh, Steven. That’s gross dude.”

Pearl walked over to the fridge, going through each item inside and making sure it hadn’t expired. “When does Greg come back?” She asked as she studied a carton of milk. “Also, Garnet, this went bad yesterday.” 

Amethyst was there in an instant, snatching the carton out of Pearl’s hand and devouring the entire thing- including the container. Steven shrieked with delight, clapping his hands. “Want to try!” He shouted, leaning forward. “Give!” 

Amethyst hopped up onto the counter. “Nuh-uh.” She cleaned her fingers, and winked at Steven. “You’re a tough lil’ gem, but that milk would have knocked you out buddy.” 

Steven pouted and crossed his arms.

Garnet ruffled his hair. “Greg gets back tonight. I was wondering what to do with Steven today, but I’m sure you two will have better ideas than me.” She smiled again, but this time there was a hint of weariness mixed in. “I’m a bit wrung out.” 

“Funland!” Amethyst shouted, not skipping a beat. “I’ve been wanting to take Steven there for _ages_. He’d love it!”

Pearl shrugged. “Maybe, but we should take him to a library instead. It’s much more educational, and he should learn how to read at some point. “

“Libraries are _so_ boring.”

“Books have all sorts of wonderful things in them! But you don’t read books, so you wouldn’t know.” 

“I _do_ read!” 

“Yes, I’m sure you read the back of cereal boxes all the time.” 

Garnet held her hand up. Although she had dearly missed both gems, she had not missed their incessant bickering. “Why don’t we let Steven decide?” She asked, setting the boy on the counter. She bent over and held up both hands. “Steven. Funland?” Garnet held up her left hand. “Or, a library?” She paused, then clarified“A library has lots and lots of books in it.” 

Steven stared intensely at both of Garnet’s palms before grabbing and pressing his cheek against her left hand. “Sapph,” He answered, snuggling his head into Garnet’s gem.

Pearl and Amethyst both made noises of surprise, while Garnet grinned. “No, little one.” She gently let go of his head and leaned back. “Fun or books?” She held both hands up once more. 

Steven seemed to grasp this concept a bit better. After a moment of silence and Steven’s eyebrows being furrowed in deep thought, he answered. “Fun!” 

Garnet could basically feel Pearl’s scowl. “That was extremely biased. You called it fun- of course he’d pick that option.”

Amethyst chipped in. “You’re just mad because he doesn’t want to go look at a bunch of stupid books.”

Pearl rolled her eyes and waved her off. “Ugh. Regardless, Garnet, he knows about Ruby and Sapphire?” She asked, shooting her a concerned look. “Didn’t you want to save that until later?” 

Garnet stood up straight. “We were going to, but we had.. A bit of fight, after our mission. We unfused,” She explained. Both gems looked curious, but Garnet shook her head. “I’ll explain later. Right now, our mission is getting a certain little boy-” She leaned down and scooped Steven up, who giggled. “Dressed for his day out.”

  
  
  
  
  


An hour later, Pearl was pushing Steven in his stroller as they walked down the boardwalk. Garnet was toting the baby bag on her shoulder, while Amethyst charged ahead, scaring seagulls and other unfortunate beach-goers. Pearl’s face was drawn in a mask of worry, and she glanced over at Garnet. “What should we do?” She looked around. “Not a lot of this looks baby safe.”

The second Pearl had finished her sentence, Amethyst came barreling back. “Hey, check it out!” She shouted, pointing at some sort of kiddie ride. The carts were designed tiny horse, with plenty of straps to keep the rider secured. The track was a few small hills, at most a few inches off the ground. All of the carts also happened to be the size of a small box, so it was perfectly Steven sized. Garnet shrugged.

“Let’s go get in line.” 

The four of them made it to the front of the line in a relatively short amount of time, lifting Steven out of his crib and into the cart. “Should one of us go with him?” Pearl fretted, wringing her hands as the operator buckled Steven up, and Steven wriggled and waved at them. “What if the ride malfunctions?”

“Then he’ll have the best rollercoaster ride ever,” Amethyst answered. “Besides, I’d catch him if he got thrown off.” Suddenly, her eyes lit up. “Ooh! We should put him on the bull ride!”

“Maybe in a few years, Amethyst.” Garnet answered, much to Pearl’s obvious relief.

Amethyst deflated. “Yeah, that’s fair.” She snapped her fingers. “Maybe for his second birthday!” 

“Hm. Sure.” 

Pearl groaned and put her face in her hands.

“The ride is now beginning,” An operator announced over a loudspeaker. “Parents, please step back. “

Garnet, Pearl, and Amethyst all stepped backwards.

The carts slowly proceeded along the tracks, cheerful music accompanying the ride. _Chuga-chuga choo choo! We’re chuggin’ along, how about you?_ Garnet thought it sounded horrendous, but Steven was having the time of his life, waving to them enthusiastically each time the ride slowly passed by them.  

“Look ah me!” He shouted the third time the carts proceeded around the track, bouncing up and down in his seat. “I’m a race car!” Although Garnet knew that’s what he meant, his actual words were something along the lines of _I’ma wace cawr!_

As the ride came to an end a few moments later, Garnet quickly murmured under her breath. “Pretend he just did something momentous. It’s good for his self-esteem.” 

Pearl whispered back, a smug look on her face. “Did you read the baby book I gave you?”

“Possibly.” 

A groan originated from somewhere to the right of Garnet. “Garnet, I thought you were the cool one!” Amethyst sighed. “I’ve never been more wrong.” 

Steven shouted something to get their attention as the ride came to a halt, struggling to climb out of the seat. “Garneh, Pel, Ame, look!” He called, scrambling to get free. “I did e- _oof!_ ” Steven, in his excitement to get off the ride, had gotten tangled in his own feet and fallen face first onto the concrete.

All three of the gems held their breath. 

Steven looked up, dazed.

A very small bruise had popped up on his temple. He pressed his hand against it and got his feet under him, staggering towards all three gems. “Ah.” He blinked and held his arms out, and when Garnet picked him up, she could see the first sliver of tears bubbling up in his eyes.

Pearl had snatched the baby bag off Garnet’s shoulder and was frantically tearing through it, shaking her head. “I don’t see the bandaids he likes!” Pearl held up a box of plain brown bandaids, the ones Garnet had packed. “He likes the racecar ones!” 

Garnet groaned. She should have known that. 

“No, what he needs is some ice cream,” Amethyst said, crossing her arms. “That’ll cheer him up right away.”

“Ice cream won’t cure a concussion, Amethyst!”

“Right, and a bandaid will?” 

Garnet snapped at both of them. “This fighting is helping no one, “ She said, using a finger to wipe away a stray tear on Steven’s cheek. He wasn’t having a meltdown yet, but his shoulders were shaking and his face was twisted up. “Amethyst, go get ice cream. Pearl, there’s a gift store at the end of the boardwalk. Go buy the bandaids he likes.”

Both gems exchanged glances before hurrying off in different directions. Garnet carefully maneuvered her way over to a nearby bench, sitting down. She plopped Steven on her lap studying his face. He was getting red and gasping, but he hadn’t started crying- but he also wouldn’t look her in the eyes.“What’s wrong, little one?” She asked, tilting his head up. “You look like you’re about to explode, keeping all of your tears in.” 

Steven snuffled, wiping his snotty nose with the back of his hand. “Don’ wanna cry.” He mumbled, looking off in another direction. When Garnet gave him an inquisitive look, he reluctantly added, “I wan’ Pel and Ame to come back.”

“Of course they’d come back, little one.” Garnet gently turned his head to face hers. “Why wouldn’t they?”

“I don’ wanna make ‘em leave,” He crossed his arms. “If I cry, they’ll leave.” His eyes started to tear up, regardless of his insistent rubbing. “I don’ wan them to leave.” His eyes became accusative, as his words began to blend together. “When I cry when I fell, you lef.” 

Garnet took her visor off. “Steven,” She began, ruffling his hair. “Pearl and Amethyst love you more than anything on this earth. I know you missed them, little one, but they didn’t leave because of you. And I didn’t leave because of you. They wanted nothing more to come back to you, just like I did, I’m sure of it. And they’ll be back with us any second now.” 

Steven stared up at her. “Really?” It came out as an adorable _Weally?_

“Yes, little one.” 

He awkwardly stood up on her legs as he threw his arms around Garnet’s legs, snuggling into the crook of her neck. “Good.” He declared. “Cos’ I luv you. An’ I love em’. ” 

Garnet’s heart just about melted.

That is, until she heard an eerily familiar voice. “Hey! Three eyed lesbian!” Garnet sighed and replaced her visor, gently detaching Steven’s arms from around her neck, setting him on the bench. He looked at her, completely confused. She patted his head and stood up.

The woman from the beach was back, stalking over to Garnet and Steven, her face twisted into a sneer. She had exchanged her bathing suit for an unflattering tank top and shorts, holding a corndog and large soda in her hands. “We let you have the beach,” She snapped. “Now you’ve invaded our boardwalk too?” 

Garnet scowled. “You didn’t let us have anything,” She responded cooly. “Anyone can walk on the boardwalk, just like how anyone can walk on the beach.”

The woman shoved her face in front of Garnet’s, poking a finger into her chest. “Anyone can go anywhere, but that doesn’t mean they’re _welcome_.” She snarled. Garnet slapped her hand away, her anger increasing at exponential rates. 

“Garnet! I found the bandaids!” Pearl’s voice made both the woman and Garnet turn to watch Pearl hurry down the boardwalk, the box of bandaids held tightly in her hand. Garnet saw Steven wave enthusiastically out of the corner of her eye, and had to clamp down on a light smile and remember who she was dealing with.

The woman groaned. “Ugh, wonderful. Another one of you weird lesbians.” She eyed them both with detestation. “What are you, some sort of.. Harem?” The woman looked genuinely repulsed, going so far to back away from them both. “I can’t believe people like you _exist_.” She snapped.

Amethyst, who had walked right up behind the three of them, wrapped her arm around the woman’s waist and grinned at her. “Can’t believe people like who exist?” 

The woman just about jumped out of her skin, slapping Amethyst in the face and backpedaling, looking as though she had just contracted some deadly disease. “You’re all _heathens!_ ” She screeched at them, her face going beet red. “You an- and-” She pointed at Steven, who beamed at her. “You and that prostitute’s son! You’re all going to hell!” 

Pearl’s face darkened, and Amethyst’s grin slid off her face and onto the ground. Garnet simply crossed her arms, her nails digging into her palms as she spoke in a low voice, her voice strained with the effort of keeping herself calm.

“What did you say?”

The woman didn’t notice any of their reactions, and she continued on with her tirade. “I _said_ you’ll all end up in hell! That little boy will be going right with you, mark my words!” After a quick glance at her drink she yanked on the top and surged forward, flinging the drink directly at Steven.

The drink didn’t make it anywhere near Steven. Instead, the cup was pinned the ground by Pearl’s spear- and she had another one ready and pressed against the woman’s throat. The entire scene reminded Garnet of Pearl during the war- renegade and dangerous, ready to cut down anyone and anything that threatened the ones she loved. 

The woman gulped, her eyes bulging out of her head as Pearl’s glare bore into her, Pearl’s face looking as though there was a thunderstorm brewing just underneath the surface. “If you come near us again,” Pearl said softly, her voice barely audible- even with the fury of a diamond in her, Pearl made sure that Steven couldn’t hear her gruesome threat. “I will have my next spear going through your gut. Do you understand?” The woman gaped and nodded, blinking rapidly. “Good. Go.” So for the second time in a weekend, the same woman turned and bolted in the other direction- though Garnet doubted there would be a third incident.

Pearl swiftly put away her spears, looking slightly abashed after she’d received the one that had pinned the drink to the ground. “I might’ve gotten carried away,” She coughed out, looking embarrassed. Amethyst slapped her on the back in congratulation.

“No way! I was about to go ham on her Pearl, you just saved us all from getting arrested.” She looked over at Garnet while handing Steven a vanilla ice cream cone, which he immediately stuck into his mouth. “Hey, did you know that chick? Seemed like she knew you.”

 _“_ Somewhat. We had an altercation the other day.” 

Amethyst snorted. “Well, she looked pretty spooked. Thought to be fair, Pearl did threaten to spear her guts.” 

Pearl scoffed. “Please. I wouldn’t have slaughtered her.” She shrugged. “I might’ve.. Lightly thrown her into the ocean.”

“Hah! How do you just _lightly_ throw someone into the ocean, P?” 

 _“_ With skill.” 

As the two of them talked, Garnet buckled Steven back into his stroller. He was lightly nibbling at his ice cream, when a sudden a look of awe appeared on his face. “Garneh,” He breathed. Garnet raised an eyebrow. He pointed to the game behind her. “Wanh.” 

Garnet turned to head to see a ring toss game. “What about it?” Steven pointed to a teddy bear. “You want that?” Steven nodded enthusiastically, sticking both his arms out. She shrugged and stood up. “Then I will go get it for you.”

She made her way over to the game, handing the worker a ten dollar bill. “I would like to play,” She announced. The worker nodded, looking very much disinterested as she handed her ten rings. “How many points for the bear?” 

The worker held up ten fingers. “Ten. But don’t get your hopes up,” She sighed. “Nobodies every gotten ten.”

Garnet tilted her head, assessed the game in a couple seconds, and tossed her ten rings. She landed every single one. The worker’s face turned from disinterest into one of disbelief as she took the bear from the shelf, handing it over to Garnet. “How did you do that?” She breathed, staring at her. “T-the game is rigged, you’re not supposed to win. Are you.. Are you like a magician?”

Garnet smiled and tweaked her visor. “Not really.” 

By the time she got back to the other two gems and Steven, Steven had fallen asleep in his stroller, a bit of drool already sliding down his chin. “He’s had quite the eventful day,” Pearl murmured. Amethyst scoffed.

“Hardly. We only went on one ride.”

“That he fell off of! Mending injuries takes a lot of works for humans, Amethyst-”

And just like that, they were arguing once again. Garnet chuckled anyways as she walked with them to the exit of the park.

  
  


Once they had reached the beach house, it had only taken a few minutes to put Steven to bed. The second his head hit the pillow he fell asleep, curled around his new bear and his thumb stuck in his mouth. 

Garnet watched him, along with Pearl and and Amethyst. She brushed his hair out of his eyes, her heart soaring as he hugging her hand as well. “He’s so much like Rose,” She whispered.

Pearl smiled sadly. “You’re right. He is.” She agreed. “But he’s so much.. Like himself, as well. He’s going to be such a wonderful person when he grows up. I’m glad i’m here for it.”

“Me too,” Amethyst said softly. “Everytime I look at him, it seems like he’s grown six feet.” She let out a short, pinched  laugh. “Imagine when he gets older. I’ll start crying everytime I look at him.” 

They all laughed at that, then fell into silence, watching their boy with nothing but adoration in their eyes.

And when Greg came home an hour later, he found the three of them sitting nearby, watching Steven’s crib, prepared to fight off the world for him.

 

 

For their boy.

  
  
  
  



End file.
